Starting from the second half of the academic year, which was launched on January 14, instead of writings by the former President S. Niyazov, books authored by the incumbent President and devoted to him are now included in the curriculum of Turkmen secondary schools.

Pursuant to the school curriculum developed by Turkmenistan's Ministry of Education, schoolchildren from the 4th grade onward will be studying writings by Berdymukhammedov or devoted to him. The revised curriculum was introduced in the country's schools during the winter holidays.

"Rukhnama", the book written by S. Niyazov, was removed from the curriculum of secondary educational establishments last year, but his other books and poems were still offered during literature classes, under the section "Literature in the epoch of Independence" (�Gara?syzlyk d�wr�ni? edebi�aty�).

During Niyazov's presidency, 25-30 academic hours per school term were allotted to study his writings. After Berdymukhammedov's rise to power, the number of hours was reduced to 7-8 per term, and starting from 2011 the time spent on studying writings by Niyazov was further reduced to 2-3 hours.

In the meantime, according to the revised curriculum and depending on the school grade, 7-8 academic hours are allotted to study the works of the incumbent President as well as books, short stories or poems devoted to him.

In comparison, 1-2 hours a school term is allotted to study the classics of world literature such as Shakespeare, Cervantes and Pushkin.

The school curriculum includes books authored by G. Berdymukahmmedov "The Bird of Happiness", "Live legend", "Honour is immortal", a novel by T. Jurdekov about Berdymukhammedov, "The grandson who made his grandfather's dream come true" along with the poems and odes dedicated to the President which are authored by the female poet Gozel Shagulyeva.